Peace! Be Still!

Open your Bibles to Mark 4:35-41

We ended our last message in Mark talking about the parable of the mustard seed. A seed so small yet it grows into something so big it’s really beyond our imagination.

We struggle, whether we want to confess it or not, with faith…in general.

1. Who here believes that God is in control?
2. Who here believes that God knows what is best?
3. Who here believes that God knows all about you?
1. Even your deepest secrets?
4. Who here believes that God knows your future?
1. Isaiah 46:10 “declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’”
2. Psalm 139:4-6 “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
3. Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
4. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

1. Can we all agree that God knows what is good, right, and best for all of us!
2. Can we all agree that God knows all of our days, our futures?
3. Can we all agree that God knows when my last breath will be taken and I won’t die one day, one hour, one minute, or one second before the Lord has decided to call me home?!

Then why do we live in fear?

Look at Mark 4:35-41

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

• After Jesus had finished speaking the parables we talked about a couple of weeks ago, He and the disciples departed by boat heading toward the Gerasenes (located in Decapolis which is made up of multiple cities).
• It was evening, so it was getting dark
• Jesus goes with them “just as He was”.
  • He was already in the boat teaching and just leaves straight from there.
  • Jesus didn’t get back out of the boat to prepare for the journey.
  • Jesus didn’t ask for any special treatment.
  • Jesus didn’t freshen up, get anything to eat, rest up, He just went as He was.
• The Sea of Galilee was not immune from windstorms and violent seas.
  • The Sea of Galilee sat below sea level and there were a lot of crosswinds that prompted storms much like what the disciples and Jesus experienced here.
• Now picture this…violent storm, waves coming up and over the boat so everything and everyone was getting wet to the point of the boat filling up with water.
  • Multiple people in the boat trying to get to some sort of safety. Experienced fishermen who are struggling.
• There is Jesus, in the stern (the back of the boat), asleep on a cushion.
  • Paying no mind or worry to what was going on around Him. Asleep!
• The disciples wake Jesus up and make a bold statement posed as a question.
  • “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
  • There are many implications to this that maybe some of you here today can relate.
    • Maybe you’ve asked Jesus this question, but in a different way.
      • Why me God?
      • Why them God?
      • Don’t you care God that people are dying?
      • Don’t you care God that people are getting sick?
      • Don’t you care God that people are getting hurt?
      • Why would you allow this to happen God?
      • Why would you allow what I don’t understand to happen God?
  • The world and the unbelievers (non-christians) definitely asks these questions and more of Jesus everyday.
    • When you ask, it makes you no different than the world.
    • When you ask, it makes you no different than the unbelievers.
  • That may sound harsh, but it’s true.
    • I ask you where is your faith?
    • Where is your trust?
    • Where is your hope (confidence)?
      • My brother Richie would joke and tell me and my brothers “It’s not that I don’t believe in you, it’s just that I know you’re going to fail.”
    • Are we approaching God this way?
      • I believe in you God, it’s just that I think, I know, I’m worried, that you’re going to fail.
  • God Does Not Fail!!!!
    • The Bible is full of prophecies, promises made by God, that have been fulfilled.
      • These are not promises that were made based on things that happened.
      • I’m talking about prophecies that were recorded, and then took years to happen.
      • God is faithful to His promises.

• Exodus 6:5-9 “Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.”
  • God has seen His people through hard times, and we’ve seen how God has brought them through keeping His promises.
    • We are human with limited minds, faith, hope, and trust.
    • Our minds are shaped based on the things that have happened to us.
• 1 Corinthians 10:12 “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
• This is exactly what Jesus has done!
  • Jesus woke up from His rest and rebuked the wind.
  • Peace! Be still!
    • The wind stopped and there was a calm.
    • Jesus, Lord of all, stopped what he was doing to save His people.
  • Jesus said, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?
    • The disciples were astonished that Jesus was able to control the winds and the sea.
• There is a difference between being led into an already known danger, and avoiding a potential danger.
  • Jesus had the disciples go out into the boat on this journey knowing it was going to storm.
    • The disciples did not know this.
    • Jesus knew the outcome, the disciples did not.
    • The disciples had faith in Jesus, not in the unknown.
  • What Jesus didn’t do was send them out across the Sea of Galilee during the storm.
    • The storm hadn’t happened yet.
    • If it was already storming, they likely would not have gone at that time and probably would have waited.
  • When roads are covered in ice and snow, we postpone church so that people, especially the elderly won’t be compelled to come to church.
    • We exercise good prayerful judgement when doing this.
    • There are good common sense rules that we can follow that just make sense.
      • Bad weather conditions, if you’re sick, then stay home and safe.
• March of 2020 we closed our church due to Covid-19.
  • The government, the Governor of Kentucky, mandated by executive order we must close our doors.
  • People were getting sick, people were dying. Things looked bad.
    • I assure you, that no one died before they were supposed to.
    • Remember God knows the number of our days. You all even confessed that God knows.

• Again I understand it may sound harsh, but no one died during Covid that God did not plan for.
• I know that we are to submit to authority and to give Caesar what is Caesar’s.
  • That really means give the authorities what belongs to them.
  • Taxes, resources, follow their rules that apply and don’t go against God.
  • Remember that Paul, Peter, many of the disciples were told by authorities not to preach/teach of Jesus anymore, and they defied the authority because that was against God.
    • If they had listened to the Jewish leaders, we wouldn’t be here today.
    • Defiance against the authorities is going to happen.
• Hebrews 10:24-25 “24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
  • For almost two months our church doors were closed.
    • I am convinced that we (I being one of the pastors here) made the wrong decision.
    • I think I failed as a pastor back then.
    • I won’t make that same mistake again.
  • We should never do again what happened in 2020.
    • Instead we should open our doors all the more as a haven and place of rest and encouragement!
    • That instead of walking in fear we display that we walk by faith!
  • We won’t allow the government, any Governor, any entity to decide if we should gather together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and worship Him.
    • It’s one thing to use caution when there is ice on the roads, it’s another when we live in potential fear of the unknown.
• Even when we are in the midst of fear, when we find ourselves in the midst of the storm, Jesus says the same thing. Peace! Be still!
  • So I ask you, where is your faith?
  • Who is your faith in?
  • Who do you trust?
  • Who do you believe?
  • Who are you willing to follow?
  • To whom are you going to be obedient?
• Jesus is calling you out of fear so that you can follow Him more.
  • I point you to the words of Jesus…
    • Peace! Be still! “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?